Promote health in 100 teens in Portland, Oregon

There are more than chemical bonds happening in Ramona Toth’s Liberty High School Chemistry lab in Hillsboro, Ore. After school on Tuesdays, MIKE Program teens are bonding with near-age mentors to affect positive change in their health.

MIKE launched its health science education program at Liberty High School in February. For the teens, many of whom are interested in health professions, MIKE brings multiple facets of health, workforce development and community engagement to them each week.

Mentors play an important role in MIKE by bonding all those elements together. They are role models, guides and advocates for healthy behavior. MIKE attracts a diverse and impressive group of young adults who commit two or more hours each week to support teens academically and socially.

For MIKE mentor Jade Stobbe, the Liberty High School program is a way to volunteer many of her skills and experiences before heading to medical school. And it’s not her first time in the school. Stobbe graduated from Liberty High School in 2009.

Equipped with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Portland State University (PSU), Stobbe fuses her interest in nutrition with a science background that brings health to life for her mentees.

“I want to break the cycle of bad health habits,” says Stobbe.

One of the ways MIKE mentors reinforce messages of health is through healthy snacks. The snacks are served at the beginning of each class. Mentors rotate turns for purchasing and serving the snacks helping them establish stronger budgeting skills within set nutritional value parameters. What really matters is how the teens respond to the foods, some of which may be new to them.

MIKE introduces, then reinforces healthy eating habits as a foundational skill that the teens can carry on throughout their lives. Such knowledge and skills provide the teens with greater capacity to avoid chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure.

MIKE mentors provide a support cushion for the teens as they develop new advocacy and leadership skills. The small groups help the teens strengthen their social skills.

“I understand what it means to be part of something larger than yourself,” says MIKE mentor Yemaly Alexander. Alexander, who grew up in Venezuela, applies her strong family and community values to her mentoring at Liberty High School. “It’s about how to work in a group to accomplish a shared goal,” says Alexander, who pursued the position with MIKE “to have leaders in our communities.”

As the weeks progress, MIKE teens will move toward developing a health leadership project which they will share in the local community. Past mentor teams have hosted health fairs, healthy cooking classes for their younger peers, and created a healthy message mural that can be seen by thousands of drivers and pedestrians each day outside Miller Education Center West (MECW) in Hillsboro. MIKE is now in its fifth year at MECW.

For Liberty’s Toth, MIKE is a catalyst for engaging teens who are struggling in school and/or home. Teens enrolled in the program earn academic credit toward their graduation requirements. The mentors provide the teens with enthusiastic examples of a variety of science and health careers.

Alvin Trieu, a pre-med student at PSU, has been a physics and organic chemistry workshop leader. He shares his passion for math, science and sports with the teens. He first heard about MIKE through one of his public health courses at PSU. “When MIKE Program was mentioned I was intrigued,” says Trieu. “I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn about mentoring and how to communicate with younger teens.”

Links:

• MIKE website